What Bad Intentions Could a Little Hufflepuff Have?

Overall, she was a clever and studious child.

And in her,

Professor McGonagall could vaguely see a trace of her younger self.

That was why she rather liked the little girl.

Curiously, Professor McGonagall opened the girl's letter.

It seemed she had quite a few questions to ask?

Otherwise, why was the letter so thick?

Now that she was taking a break,

she could read it.

Professor McGonagall read the letter

while leisurely sipping her tea.

But moments later,

she never picked up the teacup on the table again.

"Concealment Monster?!"

"This child actually encountered that kind of monster?"

Although she knew that Hermione being able to write to her meant she was safe now,

her heart still clenched.

After all, an eleven- or twelve-year-old young wizard

facing that kind of monster

was like a lamb facing a hungry wolf.

They had no chance of winning!

Professor McGonagall forgot all about her tea

and continued reading.

"An eleven-year-old boy."

"Defeated a Concealment Monster with Transfiguration?"

Professor McGonagall had actually already thought of several possibilities for how Hermione had been saved.

For example, perhaps a passing wizard had rescued her.

Or perhaps Hermione herself had found a way to scare the monster away.

But...

She had never imagined

that the Concealment Monster had died at the hands of an eleven-year-old child!

The first thing Professor McGonagall felt was that it was absurd.

This child was lying?

That was Professor McGonagall's first reaction.

Because Transfiguration was an advanced branch of magic.

As a master of Transfiguration,

she had come this far

and achieved what she had today

only after pouring in untold effort.

An eleven-year-old young wizard

should not even be able to cast Lumos.

Yet Hermione claimed

that boy had killed a vicious Concealment Monster with Transfiguration?

Concealment Monsters

were extremely cunning and extremely vicious.

Even for adult wizards,

killing an adult Concealment Monster

was no easy task!

Professor McGonagall was already becoming angry.

Because she thought the child was lying.

But...

"Then she ran into Professor Dumbledore?"

Professor McGonagall frowned.

Hermione dared to say such a thing.

Was she truly not afraid that her lie would be exposed?

After all, it would be easy enough to ask Dumbledore to verify whether it was true.

Could it be...

that she was telling the truth?

But...

How was that possible?

An eleven-year-old young wizard?

Could he already possess that level of Transfiguration?

According to Hermione,

he had instantly turned a huge boulder into a Stone Lion!

Even taking a step back,

even if a young wizard that age truly possessed such mastery of Transfiguration,

he should not have had enough magic to instantly turn a giant boulder into a Stone Lion, should he?!

The latter half of the letter

contained Hermione's questions.

She said that, like the boy named Black,

she had tried using Transfiguration.

But she could not make even a small stone change at all.

Then she asked Professor McGonagall

what she needed to do to get started with Transfiguration.

"Ah, what a foolish girl. How could Transfiguration possibly be that simple?"

Professor McGonagall had formed a guess.

Perhaps Hermione had not lied.

But the one who had turned the stone into a Stone Lion and saved them

was not that boy.

It was Dumbledore.

Based on the account in the letter, Professor McGonagall reasoned

that perhaps Dumbledore had happened to be nearby at the time

and hidden in the shadows to lend them a hand...

As for why he had not stepped out to help openly,

Professor McGonagall had no idea.

But she knew Dumbledore was capable of doing something that strange.

Just as Professor McGonagall was preparing to think about how to reply,

there was a knock at the door.

Professor McGonagall set down the letter.

"Come in."

The door opened.

Dumbledore strode in.

He looked somewhat tired.

"Minerva, I think I should tell you in person."

"I have something to deal with, and I need to take a long trip."

"So, about the work we discussed earlier..."

A familiar look of helplessness appeared on Professor McGonagall's face.

"Very well. You must go and return quickly, because there really is a great deal of work..."

Dumbledore nodded apologetically

and prepared to leave.

"Wait..." Professor McGonagall suddenly called out to Dumbledore.

She turned and looked at the letter on the desk.

"Um... I received a letter. It says that a boy killed a Concealment Monster with Transfiguration?"

"I thought it might have been you..."

Professor McGonagall had only wanted to confirm her suspicion.

She had wanted to ask Dumbledore whether he had been the one who saved the two children.

But before she could finish,

Dumbledore interrupted her with a slightly excited voice.

"Yes! That boy!"

"He was only eleven, yet he killed a Concealment Monster with Transfiguration!"

"I have never seen such an extraordinary genius."

"Ah... I forgot to tell you about it."

"But... congratulations, Minerva. This year, you will have another genius student of Transfiguration."

After hearing Dumbledore's words, Professor McGonagall froze.

Hermione had not lied?

It was actually true?

An eleven-year-old boy who could kill a Concealment Monster with Transfiguration?!